The Economist, an ancient weekly magazine that in recent years has become something like the world’s English-language policy bible, is at it again on gay marriage (see previous posts here and here).
In an article looking at President Barack Obama’s bungling on marriage and Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the magazine concludes: “Not for the first time … Mr Obama is paying a price for his caution.”
Alberto Sánchez Fernández and Alberto Linero Marchena, Reuters
I’ve beeing sunning myself in Spain these last days, thinking how lovely it is be holding hands in little villages with boyfriend, and marvelling at how local gay restauranteurs seem to be welcomed in leading roles in their local churches.
But all is not perfect in Mediterranean paradise … as this story of a sacked Spanish soldier shows. The full facts will be revealed in litigation, of course – but it doesn’t take a genius to see that Alberto Linero’s gay marriage might be part of the military’s problem with him… Continue reading →
OMG … so there won’t be gay marriages on Wednesday in California after all.
See the Court order below – the appeal is speeded up, but still will not be heard until 6 December! The Court does at least specifically order the Prop 8 proponents to show why this case should not be dismissed for lack of standing.
Sorry to keep up the Prop 8 bombardment … but Ted Olsen in brilliant here, as even the Fox interviewer admits by the end of the interview.
Mildred and Richard Loving
Here is a piece that reminds us that the long struggle for marriage equality started before gays got involved, and shows us that many people over many years (such as Mildred Loving) have helped pave the way for today’s progress and judicial decisions.
The positioning around Judge Walker’s over-turning of Prop 8 is making for high drama indeed!
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown have both asked that gay marriages resume immediately, as Judge Walker originally ruled (but then paused over). This is in addition to both of them refusing to defend Prop 8 in the original court case, even though nominally they must defend the Californian constitution. (There is a lesson for Obama in that – he could just refuse to defend the Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] in court to if his administration so chose).
So … all the appeals have now started but guess what … they can’t go anywhere. Why? Because on my understanding – if Brown and Schwarzenegger (or their successors after November’s elections) refuse to defend Prop 8 in court then the Supreme Court will refuse to hear the case (because there will only be one side in the case). Equality haters can’t randomly appeal to the high court if both the plaintiffs (gay couples) and the defendants (the state of California) agree there is no case.
So be patient – we are going to win this in the end. Continue reading →
When Rachel Maddow is good, she’s actually great. Here she is on the now long pattern of anti-equality court witnesses who lack credibility. Yet again in the Prop 8 case our opponents have been labelled as unfit and unreliable witnesses.
There arguments just do not stand up to the high standards set by courts for giving evidence.
Amazing news from California where the Federal Court has ruled that the ban on gay marriage in California cannot withstand any scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause of the United States constitution.
Excerpts from the federal court decision that found Proposition 8 violated the U.S. Constitution.
Lovely photos here of the reaction to the news.
Great line from LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: “the court has affirmed that love doesn’t discriminate.” This from Lady Gaga on Twitter: “At the moments notice of PROP 8 DEATH I instantly began to write music. … THIS IS JUST THE BEGININNG!”
The state has no interest, according to the judgement, in disadvantaging selected groups. Private moral views do not count as a basis for legal restraints on couples.
Most importantly the fact that voters rejected the right to marriage equality is irrelevant because: “fundamental rights may not be submitted to [a] vote.” Gender no longer forms an essential part of marriage; marriage under law is a union of equals!
A great headline from the New York Times here – but the article is good too. It points out a useful judicial technique for taking action on gay marriage, one recently used in the US Supreme Court by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
